Bird flu fears as 6 rosy starlings discovered useless in Rajkot

SIX ROSY starlings had been discovered useless at Jilla Garden, positioned on the financial institution of river Aji, in Rajkot metropolis Sunday, elevating chook flu fears.
The birds had been discovered useless within the backyard within the morning following which an animal husbandry division group rushed to the spot.
“By the time, we reached the spot, all the birds had died. We have sent samples of two birds to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, and handed over the carcasses of the remaining birds to the forest department,” Dr KU Khanpara, the deputy director of animal husbandry, Rajkot district, stated.

This is second incident of mass mortality of scheduled birds in Rakot district in latest weeks. On January 10, as many as 15 red-wattled lapwings had been discovered useless on Bhadar riverbank at Shivrajgadh village in Gondal taluka. “However, those lapwings had tested negative for bird flu. It is difficult to comment about the cause of deaths of the rosy starlings that were found dead in the city Sunday until reports of their tests are available,” Dr Khanpara stated.
Bird flu was confirmed in Gir Somnath Friday. The avian influenza was confirmed in Junagadh early this month.